


For The Restless

by NotEvenThat



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: BAMF Magnus Bane, Future Fic, Hopeful Ending, Implied Suicidal Thoughts with No Intent, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Magnus Saves The World, POV Magnus Bane, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Shadowhunters: The Ficlet Instruments, The Spiral Labyrinth, Vague angst, Week Two: Neon, World Crumbling Apocalypse, canon compliant AU, post alec's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-20 16:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19994980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenThat/pseuds/NotEvenThat
Summary: It had been a century since Magnus' life with Alec and yet, not much had changed; Magnus still missed Alec every day and the fate of the world still came to rest on his shoulders, as it always had.





	For The Restless

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [sh_ficletinstruments](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sh_ficletinstruments) collection. 



> I don't know what this is.

Magnus couldn’t help but wonder what Alec would think of all this if he were here to see it. Their world now was so different from the world he and Alec had lived it and Magnus wondered what Alec would see in this.

What did it mean to be mundane, if your life was entangled with magic just to survive here? What did it mean to be a warlock if every ounce of your power was sucked off to be distributed, sent out to keep the world spinning for even just a day longer?

The lines were blurred now because yes, Magnus was still a warlock but his magic wasn’t his any longer. He lived as a mundane, sparring the tiny pulses of magic he’d manage to use to warm his coffee or bring his pencil just a little closer. 

Alec would tell him it was noble. He would tell him that he was saving the world but Magnus wouldn’t really want to hear any of that from Alec, if he could talk to him again. He’d want Alec to tell him he loved him but it was helpful to imagine what Alec would say when Magnus himself didn’t know what to think. 

His lover, reduced to a thought exercise. Magnus sighed. 

The lights flashed in front of him, bright neon blues and greens. Magnus was standing in the Spiral Labyrinth, staring for the first time at the network of magic that was keeping them all alive. He hadn’t wanted to see it for the longest time. He had always known he was giving up his magic to do this but actually seeing it was different. 

For the greater good, he thought. The world needed him for just a bit longer. 

There were murmurs now, people thinking of ways to keep the world afloat without having to drain all the magic from most of the warlocks in it. They were just ideas but ideas grew. Eventually, someone great would come up with something that would work. 

Afterward, when the world didn’t need him anymore… Well, Magnus thought that maybe somewhere out there, Alec needed him. He liked to think that his lover was waiting for him. He was tired of this life and he was tired of being in it without Alec. 

A century was a very long time to miss someone and when Magnus closed his eyes, neon hues still burning beyond them, he thought of a world that was long gone. He thought of Alec and he hoped that one day, he’d see him again. Someday, when things were better here. When everyone else could continue on after Magnus passed. When things would be okay without him. 

Magnus opened his eyes and stared again. He laughed humorlessly. He should be wise enough to know by now that a time like that would never come. He could hope and he could dream but the world never seemed to be done with him. 

Ah well, no rest for the wicked. 

**Author's Note:**

> Neon- Neon looking futuristic photo- Magic Network- An AU where centuries after Alec's death humans have destroyed the world so much that magic is the only thing keeping them alive. Reasonable jump to me.


End file.
